


your actions speak louder than you think

by TheFluffyEntity



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluffy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Ryuji has a heart of gold, Some spoilers for the first palace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-10 22:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFluffyEntity/pseuds/TheFluffyEntity
Summary: Just once did Ryuji want to try and protect him, even if that meant taking a few risks





	your actions speak louder than you think

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic for this fandom! I've been working on this for weeks and now I think it's finally complete. I just love Akiryu and Ryuji is already the sacrificial type so I really wanted to combine the two in some way

"And then she-"

"There's no way that happened," said Akira with a faint smile on his face.

"Well yeah, but that's not the point!"

Ryuji enjoyed days like this where the two of them could just hang out. Walking through the crowd as the sun fell was an everyday thing for them. Sure it was fun hanging out with everyone, doing official phantom thief business, but Ryuji was starting to appreciate days where it was just the two of them. After getting saved from Kamoshida and getting revenge, he thought he could never repay Akira for that. And they were friends, but now it reached a point that Ryuji didn't want to see him get hurt, not if he could do anything to stop it.

He thought back to when they were in mementos the other day.

_They were almost finished defeating all of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an shadow about to attack Joker. He saw it, but his body wouldn't move still from the paralysis attack from before 'C'mon...!'_

_This attack was supposed to finish off the shadow for good. After him it was Joker’s turn and he was running low on hp as it was. Ryuji summoned an ‘Zio’ But the shadow dodged it and he heard Morgana’s reprimanding screech. ‘....No..!” Before he could even move, Joker faced the attack head on, grimacing for a bit._

_"Hey man are you alright?!" Skull yelled in concern._

_Joker nodded his head "I'm fine" Quickly he sat up and jumped right back into the fray, Morgana shouting out its stats once more._

_But that fear of possibly losing him still didn't leave._

_If only he was stronger, he wouldn't have gotten shocked._

_If everyone lost their leader, the Phantom Thieves along with their legacy would come crumbling down._

_But if he happened to get injured in the process of protecting him, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad._

_He was right there, damn it! Why couldn't he move in time to do the right thing?_

"You okay?" Ryuji was awakened out of his thoughts by a pale hand waving in front of his face.

He shook his head and sighed "I'm just thinking about that test I prolly failed again."

Morgana's head popped out of Akira's bag  “Again? How typical of you, Ryuji."

“Hey!” Ryuji shouted indignantly. It wasn't his fault! There just happened to be a new release of his favorite manga the night before, that's all.

Akira patted him on the back softly, giving him a slightly sympathetic look. "There's no use worrying about it now." He looked off into the distance, lost in thought until he snapped his fingers.

"I know, how about we get something at the convenience store; it'll be on me".

He truly was the best in every single way, Ryuji thought to himself. And it only strengthened his resolve.

From that day on, Ryuji dedicated himself to his training. How could his nickname be 'Skull' and he wasn't even as strong as one?

He ran and lifted extra weights daily. His leg did end up a aching a lot more from the extra use.

"I won't stop now," he thought. If he had ended up getting hurt in the process, he could take it. He kept on running, looking past the scenery and lungs burning.

All he could do is train until he reached his limit and push himself even more.

Ryuji had a feeling that the whole ‘hiding his problems plan’ was going to head south when Akira invited him to hang out at the Ogikubo ramen shop.

Ryuji dug into the bowl when he felt a pair of eyes staring at him.

"Are you alright?" asked Akira. He looked as calm as ever, but the worry seeped into his tone.

"Hmmhgh?" Ryuji asked with a mouth full of ramen. After swallowing he gave Akira a confused look. "What do you mean man, I'm fine."

The steam from the ramen had fogged up the other's glasses a bit as he continued to stare at him . Ryuji hoped that sounded more convincing to Akira than it did to him. He'd have to choose his words carefully around him. For some reason Akira could read him as easily as an open book.

"You do know that, if there's anything you need, you can always come to me, right?" said Akira.

Ryuji laughed as he went for a second bowl of ramen "Of course dude,"

But he just couldn't go to him for this sort of thing, for being so weak, it was actually pretty emabrsssin'.

* * *

 

It was supposed to be a regular day at the diner, until-

 _"Everyone stay down!"_ There was a guy holding a knife to a waitress's neck. Screams of terror and gasps of surprise filled the air.

The man had was all dressed in black with a wild look on his face. He looked around the room until he locked eyes with Akira. "You, with the blank face! Get over here!" 

Akira slowly got up, eliciting a few hushed whispers in the crowd. Ryuji knew he had to do something. Ann mouthed “What are you doing?” to Ryuji and he gave her a confident grin in response.

Akira was about to walk towards him, face as impassive as ever. Before Ryuji knew it, he grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him back down, standing up to take his place.

“Hey let's take it easy!" Ryuji walked towards him slowly, both hands up. If he got a little bit closer, he could reach the knife and knock it out of his hands.

“Who said I want to take it easy?” the guy sneered.

Soon Ryuji was close enough to try to grab the knife. _Almost there!_ He could feel his palms begin to swear as his pulse raced.

Suddenly a few policeman entered the room and the man let go of the knife, trying to make a run for it. People were chatting amongst themselves. Akira grabbed Ryuji’s arm amidst all of the commotion and dragged him out of the diner.

“Hey, Akira, wait!” Ryuji stuttered out a reply.

This was a new side of Akira he was seeing. All he could do was get dragged along as Akira pulled him into a nearby alleyway. Soon he let go and there was a newfound look in his eyes. 

"What you did was dangerous, you couldn't gotten seriously hurt.” said Akira, raising one eyebrow.

"What? No way! Besides as long as you aren't hurt-" Ryuji cut himself off and Akira's eyes widened. Crap, he wasn't supposed to let that part slip out.

"What’s going on?" Akira asked.

Ryuji looked away to the side, not wanting to answer.

 _“Ryuji."_ God he couldn't stand that tone getting used against him. There was no way out of this.

He lowered his head as he sat down and sighed “Fine, you caught me. I’ve just been worried about you, that’s all. You’ve saved me so many times, so I wanted to repay the favor....And if I can stop you from getting hurt then I will.”

Ryuji felt Akira sit next to him and the two sat in silence. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, maybe he could play it all off as an joke.

“You know, I think you’ve saved me plenty of times." said Akira, tone reminiscent.

“How’s that?” Ryuji replied, still looking towards the distance. There was no way maybe he was bluffing it off.

“When I first arrived, I had a label on my back and that's all that people could see. But you didn't judge he based on the rumors and you’ve always had my back since the beginning. When you raced in front of me I was so worried. You really scared me, you know." Akira murmured the last part softly.

Ryuji felt a bit guilty, he really didn't mean for him to get troubled "Sorry," 

"It's okay," Akira reassured him "You don’t have to sacrifice yourself for me or be strong right away. We'll both have each other's backs and get stronger together. After all, we’re friends right?" Akira gave him a small smile and with that, it felt as if his previous worries had disappeared. 

"Yeah, we are. Thanks man," Ryuji felt the emotion rise up in his throat.

“You want to head back to LeBlanc?" Akira asked, standing up. 

“Nah I should prolly’ get home before my mom starts worrying,” Ryuji winced, body still sore as he stood up.

"Let me help you this time.” Akira said. He slung Ryuji's arm around his shoulder and the two walked slowly.

Ryuji felt a warm feeling in his chest, but for now he’d settle for basking in it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos are appreciated! Thanks for reading!


End file.
